“Tweening”, which is short for “in-betweening”, is an interpolation technique of generating intermediate frames between two frames to produce an animation in which the first frame changes smoothly to the second frame. Tweening can be used to create the appearance of motion for an image along a predefined path. Tweening can also be used to create the appearance of shape change of a first image into a second image. These effects can be combined to create a sophisticated animation, which can be inserted into, for example, electronic presentations and websites.
Conventional graphics programs with a tweening creation feature typically require a user to learn complex procedures using one or more “pull-down” menus. Each menu may include a number of multi-tiered command items. In general, these command items and their locations do not follow any objective standard or logic, except that of the program manufacturer. In some programs, the menu offerings change depending on the task or item that has been selected. Thus, remembering the exact locations of the required command items to create and play a tweening animation can be challenging to a novice user. Furthermore, the procedure for creating and playing a tweening animation using a conventional graphics program is usually so different from other procedures that in-depth knowledge of these other procedures does not provide significant advantage in learning how to create and play a tweening animation using the same graphics program.
In view of these concerns, what is needed is a system and method for creating and playing tweening animations that is more intuitive and simpler to use than conventional graphics programs.